Crothers Creates Product Line for Jackson’s Harsh Climate
Summer 2017
Written By: Kelsey Dayton
| Images: Megan Peterson
Maya Crothers thoughts she was retiring when she moved to Jackson 10 years ago from Dallas. She’d earned a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan at Dearborn and worked for a company that sold large power plants to other countries before getting her MBA from the University of Pennsylvania. Then, she went into consulting and spent summers visiting Jackson with her family.
She was ready to retire. But it wasn’t long after living in Jackson that she noticed how Jackson’s climate was impacting her skin, which felt dry and tight.
“It’s an extreme environment for skin,” she says.
Crothers searched for skin care products that used natural elements, came in nice packaging, and also worked. She couldn’t find the right combination. So she started her own skin care line, Circcell. The products use natural elements, botanicals, and ingredients Crothers says are scientifically proven to work, presented in a way that adds a touch of luxury. Encased in cream-colored packaging, the transparent vessels allow the products’ colors to show, including a green cleanser with Arctic clay and a mask that uses red algae.
“We care about packaging,” she says. “We want the whole experience to be nice. Opening the box feels good. We like to say our products are hardworking, yet elegant.”
Crothers has always loved cosmetics and skin care. Some of her earliest memories are from growing up near Detroit and playing with the cosmetics and skin care products on her mother’s dressing table. Her mother took her skin seriously. In college, Crothers became fastidious about her own skin care routine. But when she moved to Jackson, her old routine wasn’t working so she sought something new.
To launch Circcell, Crothers partnered with colleagues in the skin care industry. The company launched in 2011 with a single product: a two-in-one dry powder and liquid that people mixed together right before use.
Circcell no longer sells that product—despite its popularity and the frequent phone calls Crothers gets asking about it. She says they’ve found better formulas to create new products that replaced the beloved original.
“It’s evolved and it continues to evolve,” she says.
Crothers only launches products she’s proud of and she uses them herself. They help her skin during Jackson’s harsh winters while skiing with her family, as well as the intense summer sun when out riding bikes. And she loves the way they feel.
“The formulations don’t make me feel like I’m in a space suit,” she says. “It feels effortless.”
Crothers’ 12-year-old daughter also plays with all the products, the same way Crothers once played with the items her own mother used.
One facial oil is even named after her daughter’s nickname, Wooshie. Crothers named another after her mom, Jacqueline, and one after her mother-inlaw, Nancy. They are part of the 14 Circcell products people can buy at places like Four Seasons Jackson
Hole's spa. The company also has a skincare line available only to professional aestheticians.
“I’m definitely not retired anymore,” Crothers says. “I don’t really see that any time soon.”
